


It Starts Like This

by PFDiva



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, I tagged the main pairings and interactions, M/M, Multi, but i am a massive multishipper, so you've got some Barry/Magnus in there, some Lupcretia and Magcretia, they are a polycule of epic proportions okay fite me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-25 19:34:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13219728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PFDiva/pseuds/PFDiva
Summary: It starts between--between friends, between family, between coworkers, between lovers, between colleagues.  Between all of those is the love that powers the IPRE, and this is where that love starts.





	It Starts Like This

It starts in a bar--rowdy and crowded with students from the Institute of Planar Research and Experimentation enjoying their evening.  A long-haired elf lounges at the bar, nursing a drink and looking sullen.  

A large human man joins the elf, offers to buy a drink, only to get a false smile that's got too many teeth to be friendly.

"I'm the boytwin," the elf advises with a bitterness that suggests this isn't the first time he's said as much this year, this month, this night.

The human gamely grins, "Yeah, that's what I was hoping for."  He sticks out a hand big enough to wrap around the elf's slim arm.  "Magnus Burnsides.  You're Taako, right?"

Taako eyes the hand being held out to him, then carefully places his own within it.  "From TV."  He grimaces at the enthusiastic handshaking this earns him.  "My dude, you know I like that arm, right?"

Magnus laughs sheepishly, releasing Taako's hand, "Sorry, I've just wanting to meet you for an embarrassingly long time."

"How embarrassingly long?"  Taako flips his hair over his shoulder to get this juicy tidbit of gossip.  He loves knowing how much people love him, and from the color Magnus turns, Magnus loves him a lot.

"Since before I came to the academy, when I first saw you on TV.  Three years ago."  That was when Taako first started gracing the academy TV show with his gorgeous face, and he laughs in delight.  It's not a _nice_ laugh, but his pleasure is genuine.

"And it took you this long to work up your courage, big boy?"  Taako is flirting now, his eyes appreciatively taking in the human before him.  Taako is the taller of the two, but Magnus is undeniably _bigger_.

"Took me this long to get admitted," Magnus confesses, sliding onto the empty stool next to Taako like he is welcome to be there.  Well, he's wearing a shirt that shows off all his best attributes, and those best attributes clearly aren't in his head.

"You were going to buy me a drink?"

"I am."  Magnus signals the bartender to buy Taako that drink, and a few more besides as the night wears on.  Never enough to get more than a little tipsy, but plenty enough to make them both loose and warm.  They giggle their way back to Taako's shared dorm room, with Taako hanging on Magnus rather more than is strictly necessary, and they spend the night together.

When morning comes, they are awakened by an elf with short-cropped curls wolf-whistling and bouncing coins off Magnus's naked ass and back.  When he looks, the elf could be Taako's twin, and the pair's complaints about one another suggest that the other elf _is_ Taako's twin, a sister named Lup.  At least she isn't throwing the coins very hard.

Rather than becoming embarrassed by literally being caught with his ass out, Magnus stands and flexes for Lup until she's laughing too hard to throw coins at him anymore.

Taako and Lup make Magnus breakfast while he puts on his clothing.  They don't realize they've made a friend (whether they want to or not) until Magnus buys them both coffee a few days later.

~*~*~*~*~

It starts in a half-forgotten basement lab of the Institute for Planar Research and Experimentation, where an older human man and Lup discuss magical theory.  For tonight, she has abandoned her twin in favor of this delightfully challenging human, leaving Taako sulking where Magnus can buy him a drink.

At some point in the conversation, Lup unintentionally gives the human the rosetta stone he needs to understand years of conversation shared between twins over his head--the key to their private language that transcends elvish (which he speaks with reasonable fluency) and magical theory (which he speaks like he breathes).  With that key, he realizes he's misunderstood so many conversations between them and himself, and they spend the night discussing old topics in a new way.  They only stop when Lup notices the human drooping with exhaustion.

"Barold," she calls him a name that is not his in order to catch his attention and gently tease him, "You need to get some sleep."

"You're just saying that because you're losing....Guadalupe."  It's a sad attempt at a verbal riposte, interrupted by a hearty yawn.  He is tired and does need sleep, but he's finally beginning to understand.  He doesn't want to sacrifice that comprehension to his dreams.

"Hah!  Me losing!  I don't think so!"  She barks out a laugh, which makes him giggle and sway on his seat.  Actually, he falls out of his seat, but Lup catches him.  He leans against her taller form, breathing in the scent of her perfume and getting glitter on his nose.

"Maybe I am getting tired," he concedes to her collarbones.

She pulls his arm around her waist, leading the way from the lab.  "I'll take you home and put you to bed, and I promise to respect you in the morning."

"You _dare_ respect me in the morning?"  He roars at the bulletin board across from the lab door, putting on a sleepy version of his most theatrical voice and making Lup cackle.  "You _dare_ laugh at _me_?"  He howls this down the empty hallway, prompting more laughter.  He finds new things to berate in his faux-offense until Lup is laughing so hard, she's forced to beg for mercy before she pisses herself or pukes.

"Ew," he daintily replies, setting off fresh peals of laughter, "Lup, you're so gross.  Stop being gross."

"Barry J Bluejeans, if you don't stop making me laugh so hard," Lup howls in laughing, faux-offended reply, and Barry finally surrenders, chuckling with her.  He doesn't really need her support to walk, but she's warm and smells good and there's nothing wrong with being on the arm of a pretty lady who's not interested in him as long as he avoids being creepy.  He's pretty sure he's managed to avoid being creepy so far.

When Lup's laughter finally subsides, she's resting her cheek on the floofy nest of his hair, and he's companionably hanging onto her, more leading her to his room than being led.  He intends for them to part at his door, but Lup invites herself in for the rumchata she sees on his desk.  Considering the fact that it is neither the first nor the last time she's done such a thing, he later suspects it as a ploy to make sure he actually sleeps.  He wakes in the morning to the smell of Lup in his room and glitter on his nose.  She even left him some rumchata for next time.

It will be long, achingly sweet decades before he learns that she very much didn't want either of them to sleep that night.

After a shower, Barry goes to the campus gym like he does every morning.  There, he resumes attempting to decide if he wants to sleep with the gregarious younger human who'd recently appeared, or if he wants to _be_ that gregarious younger human.

He keeps himself in decent shape, but he's got a good decade or two on the other man, and more importantly, Barry refuses to do that much exercising to himself.  Not that he is anything less than absolutely appreciative of the muscles the younger man (who doesn't seem to own shirts) displays while working out, but he'd made his decision, and he would happily live with it.

It is many days later before he hears about the flexing adonis in Lup's room.  It's a lot longer before he realizes his attractive gym bunny is that same adonis.  Well, he already knew he wouldn't be up the man's alley.  Tragedy how he keeps developing crushes on people who are uninterested or taken.  Not that Taako holds onto his partners for very long, but someone who'd find Taako appealing would certainly overlook Barry.

He will be worlds away from home before he learns that he's not the only one who can be attracted to two very different types of people at the same time.

*~*~*~*~*

It starts at a university vegetable cart, where Taako and Lup tag-team haggle with a beach dwarf who needs no assistance against them.  They insist that as students, they should get a discount on their produce.

The dwarf maintaining the cart refuses on the grounds that they hustle their classmates with their cooking and keep trying to mage hand his wares off the cart, which is illegal, give that radish back _right_ now, so help me Pan.

The argument follows the cart through the campus, attracting more attention than the cart and driver would have alone.

Victims of the twins' meal hustle purchase produce because if this is where they get it, maybe the twins aren't the only ones who can produce the miracle meals they do.

Others purchase produce as a somewhat apology to the poor dwarf getting hassled by a pair of students, and still others learn for the first time that the Institute of Planar Research and Experimentation has a vegetable cart.

The twins howl their offense for every vegetable that gets purchased from under their nose, but the dwarf reminds them they could have everything they wanted if they only paid full price.

The trio's sideshow performance ends at the library when a gnome comes out to investigate the noise.

"Merle, why are you hustling the students?"

"It's not hustling," Merle objects, "It's 'making strategic use of the tools you have at hand!'"  He sounds like he's quoting something (or someone), and the gnome's expression sours in a way that suggests an attempt to avoid showing amusement.  "Besides, we're all having fun, Davenport!  Live a little!  Here, have some peas."

"And now you're freaking _giving away_ veggies, but you won't give us any kind of a discount?!" Taako screeches as Merle bags up a handful of pea pods.

"I still say we should set his beard on fire and steal his cart," Lup says.  Her tone makes it clear that this isn't the first time she's made this comment.

"No setting _anyone_ on fire," Davenport sharply replies, accepting the bag of peas with a bemused look.

"Or we could turn him into a crab and have _him_ for dinner."  Taako is sulking.

Davenport is starting to worry about his coworker and sternly reminds Taako, "That is murder and will get you thrown in _jail_.  Leave him alone."

"Aww, let 'em stay.  If they follow me around all day, I'll probably sell enough to make up for the discount they want."  Davenport looks suspicious, but Merle shoos him off, "It's fine, it's fine, I can handle it.  You take those peas and cook up a nice meal, you hear?"

Davenport is already turning away when he responds, so he misses the way Merle's face falls in response to his words.  "Yeah, I don't think Lucretia's eaten anything in the last few days.  Thank you, Merle."  He disappears back into the university library and for a moment, there is silence.

Then Lup says, "You got it baaaaaad, don'tcha?"

"What?"

"He's got it baaaaad," Taako agrees, and the pair turn as one to give Merle a wicked grin.  For the first time today, the twins concern him.

It will be less time than one would think before Merle learns that the message his bag of peapods intended to send was received and received quite well at that.

~*~*~*~*~

It starts in a library study room, where Lucretia desperately attempts to finish her work project in enough time to work on her essay for school.

An education at the Institute of Planar Research and Experimentation is free to anyone who wants to learn, but housing and food are not.  Lucretia's family instilled a love for writing in her, and she uses it to support herself.

She's been doing pretty well so far, but getting a full-time education while simultaneously attempting to maintain a more than full-time job would be rather taxing on anyone.  Still, she could finish the work project a week from now and still have her school essay done in time, but she sets deadlines on herself to make her more productive, and one of her self-imposed limits is coming up.

The study room's door opens, bringing with it the mouth-watering scent of stir fry.  It banishes thoughts of deadlines and makes Lucretia realize that she hasn't had anything more substantial to eat than an apple in over 12 hours.  Her stomach cramps as she looks up to find her mentor and friend, Davenport, with a plastic bag that she can only assume contains the fragrant food.  And hopefully something to eat it with as well.  She's hungry enough to devour whatever it is with her fingers.

"If that isn't for me, you're banished."

Davenport laughs and puts the bag on the table as if surrendering, pushing it closer to Lucretia, "It is for you, so please eat up."

It would be more accurate to say that Lucretia inhales the food rather than eating it.  (With the help of silverware, thank goodness.)  It is, as she suspected, a stir fry full of fresh vegetables and tender beef.  She actually overdoes it, and is uncomfortably full when she finishes, but she doesn't care.

While Lucretia eats, Davenport looks over her writing, scribbling notes on her backup copy in his tidy hand.  When she sits back in her chair with a satisfied huff, he offers her a warm smile, "This is good."

"But...?"

"But I've read the author you're ghost-writing here, and this sounds nothing like her."

Lucretia heaves a disappointed sigh, "I know.  It's just a proposal, but I was hoping they might take it anyway."

"You could always try submitting something under your own name."  It's an old argument and Lucretia smiles sadly.

"Not now.  I have to focus on my studies, and then I'll write something under my own name.  I already have a couple autobiographies under my belt.  When I write my own, I want it to SAY something.  A few journal entries aren't difficult until then."  She doesn't say that she hasn't written her own autobiography because she can't afford to take the time to do it, not if she wants to eat and live while going to school, and Davenport doesn't press the issue.

"Have you spoken to Barry about your necromancy assignment yet?"

"No," she grimaces, "And I won't be done with this until midnight, at least."

"He should still be up."

"You think?"

"As long as that elf girl doesn't lure him off again."

"Which elf girl?"

"One of the twins."

"Not the one with the hat?" Lucretia asks, a bit appalled, "And the hair?"

She frowns in confusion when Davenport begins to laugh at her.  "What?"

"The one with the hair is the _boy_."

"One of them's a boy?"  Davenport laughs at Lucretia's confusion until he chokes and Lucretia declares him banned.  The declaration does nothing to stop his laughter.  She eventually joins him in his amusement.

Lucretia doesn't make it out until the wee hours of the morning.  She doesn't really expect to find Professor Bluejeans around campus, but it's worth taking a look.  Just in case.

She gets sidetracked by a light show in the campus green.  When she goes to investigate, the twins are there with Professor Bluejeans and a shirtless human guy with more muscles than Lucretia's mind knows what to do with.

One of the twins charges at the shirtless man, and rather than retreat or dodge, he crouches down, then flings the elf into the air.  Her gaze follows the elf without her conscious decision, and her eyes soon regret that.  The elf explodes into a massive fireball that engulfs the party, leaving Lucretia watching from the outskirts, blinded and awash with the fireball's heat.

Before she has time to even think "She's killed them all," the fireball winks out, leaving the entire group laughing and coughing, but unharmed as the elf lands in the muscular human's arms.

Lucretia's eyes are dazzled, her mind is dazzled, and she staggers with shock.  She must faint, because the next thing she knows, the shirtless man is holding her while Professor Bluejeans argues with the elf (Shorter hair, possibly the girl?) about whether or not the spell could have hit Lucretia at that distance.

"She's awake!" the guy booms, his chest rumbling against her shoulder, and all attention is suddenly on her.  She feels incredibly shy and uncomfortable, but she can't get away.

Then the elf smiles at her, warm and sweet, "Hey there..!  My name's Lup, sorry for scaring you.  What's your name, lady?"

"Lucretia," she mumbles, as dazzled by Lup's smile as she was by the fireball, "It's okay."

Lup smiles wider, "Y'wanna see it again?"

Unlike Barry and Magnus, Lup has a type: nerdy.

"I can't throw you if I'm holding her," the muscular guy points out, earning him a playful punch in the shoulder from Lup, "What?  I can't!  Can you stand?"  The last is directed at Lucretia, who nods.

With the utmost care, he sets her on her feet, steadying her with large hands on her shoulders.  It is not an exaggeration to say that he dwarfs her, and she finds herself dazzled all over again.

Lucretia and Barry have the same taste in both men and women, and when she staggers to his side, mumbling about her necromancy assignment, he is sympathetic to her shock.  They will fistbump about this moment when Lucretia learns just how varied Magnus's taste in people can be.

Lucretia spends the rest of the night watching Lup and Taako show off their magic, at least half of it with one or the other charging Magnus to get thrown into the air for spectacular feats of magical silliness.

She keeps her feet firmly on the ground with Professor Bluejeans ("Please, call me Barry!") and eventually does get the necromancy help she wanted.

At some point, the gathering migrates to the twins' room, with Lucretia and Barry's necromancy discussion migrating to philosophy, then the ethics of magic.  Before Lucretia knows it, she's having a four-way discussion on the philosophy of arcane magic versus divine, her and Barry on opposite sides of Lup's bed, Lup and Taako sprawled up against Magnus on Taako's bed.

Magnus is an attentive but uncomprehending spectator.  He asks intelligent questions, but is clearly out of his depth.  It doesn't help that attempts to explain things to him frequently get derailed by theory, discussions of new research, and someone trying to remind the group that this wasn't even what they were talking about right now!

Barry understands the twins better than Lucretia, and the trio talk in the kind of linguistic shorthand that comes from knowing each other well.  Lucretia does her best to catch up and Barry helps, to their dismay.  Surprisingly, Magnus is a help as well, and the twins are shocked to realize how much he gets them.

When Lucretia's head begins to dip with exhaustion, she flops onto her side on the bed, her back against the wall so that she can talk around Barry.   Barry eventually flops down as well, forcing Lucretia to lean over him to keep talking.  She refuses to be tired yet, she's Not Done Talking.  That doesn't change the fact that as her energy flags, leaning over him to talk turns into sprawling across his chest, but she is still in this.  Really.  She doesn't remember falling asleep, but she wakes up to laughter.

The laughter is Taako's, and he and Magnus are curved towards each other in a way that suggests a rather, ah, carnal familiarity.

Magnus is also drawing something on Lup's face.  Hence Taako's laughter.

Lucretia considers getting up or saying something, but at some point while she was asleep, Barry's arm found its way around her waist, and her head tucked itself under his chin.  They've only just barely met, but Lucretia feels safe curled up against Barry's big barrel-chested softness.  She lets herself fall asleep again.

She next awakens to the smell of breakfast and the sound of Lup screeching at Taako and the unfamiliar feeling of being among friends.

~*~*~*~*~

It starts with Taako and Lup hassling Merle at his vegetable cart while Davenport tries to purchase vegetables with Lucretia and Barry having a very intelligent discussion about Lucretia's thesis at him.

Magnus arrives, and the shape of the group changes, because Magnus must kiss Taako, even if that means dragging a squawking Taako away from a cracking-up Lup and Merle.  This gives Barry a chance to draw Lup into his discussion with Davenport, while Lucretia questions Merle about his produce in a determined, but ultimately good-natured way.

The sky detonates overhead, a white light careening through the sky and into Merle's unfortunate university garden.  Merle takes off at a dead sprint, followed closely by a worried Davenport, and an excited Magnus and Lup, with an annoyed Taako trailing them.  Lucretia and Barry exchange a glance, then run after their friends.

It starts with Merle, Barry, and Davenport arguing tradition with Lup, Lucretia, and Taako advocating experimentation around the Light of Creation, while Magnus asks too-dumb-to-fool questions that split matters neatly in half.

It starts with Lup, Lucretia, and Barry arguing elegance against Davenport, Taako, and Magnus insisting on safety, with Merle offering hope as the deciding vote in the Starblaster's blueprints.

It starts with an engine that runs on the power of bonds--those between atoms, those between people, those between worlds.

It starts with Davenport being offered the chance to helm the ship powered by an engine of relationships, and knowing exactly the crew he needs.

It starts with seven people leaving their home for a four-month trip that turns into a century of running away.

It starts with destruction caused by an attempt to divide the harbinger of horror into manageable pieces.

It starts with mistakes that divide a family forged by a century of terror.

It starts with a call to arms that inspires a planar system to battle.

It starts with the end of the monster that has consumed so many universes.

It starts with rebuilding.

It starts with love.


End file.
